Improvement in turbine water-wheels



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. TRIPP. Turbine Water-Wheel. No. 2o1,|s3. jeglmnted March 12, 1878.

1mm: A z N Z Y a a3 A Q Q9 2 a;

I 6/ o o.

. N-PEIERS, PHOTO-UTROGRAFHER, WASHINGTON, B12.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. TRIPP. Turbine Water-Wheel.

No. 20I,l33. i'yj nted March 12,1878.

3 6L a Cl [H d P W H Fl .6? flziZwZ/ Wz'lrws sea. fiwemon Tie am as Tripp.

I "PETERS. PNOTO-UTNOGRAPNER. WlSNINGTON. D. C.

UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS TRIPP, or EAST-STOUGHTON, Mnssnonosnrrs.

IMPROVEMENT IN TURBINE WATER-WHEELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 201,133, dated March 12, 1878; application filed August 18, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, THOMAS TRIPP, of East Stoughton, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in'Water-Wheels, of which the following is a specification:

These improvements are based, in part, upon a water-wheel and case shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States, issued to me on the 24th day of April, 187 7, in which one or more annular or register gates operate in connection with the corresponding openings in a cylindrical wheel-case, and the openings or ports of such gate are supplied with independent pads, which 'operatewith the openings, of the case.

In this patented wheel the water has access to the outer side of each pad through openings in the ring which supports them, and the joint between the inside face of the pad and the adjacent face of the wheel-case or wheel is a loose one.

Under some conditions of service I have found it desirable to exclude water from pressure against the outside of the pads; and to this .end one portion of my presentimprovenient consists in closing these openings in the ring, and thus interposing a. solid body ,between the outside of the pad and the water,

v which effectually shuts out contact of the two.

A second portion of these improvements consists in interposing between the outer face of each pad and the adjacent face of the annular-gate frame a sheet of vulcanized rubber, or other elastic or semi-elastic medium, which shall maintain a close joint between the parts, and prevent leakage of water when the gates are closed, thus enabling me to produce a perfectly tight register-gate.

A third portion of these improvements consists, as hereinafter explained, in a peculiar form of thebuckets of the wheel and of the rim which divides the series of buckets, when a sectional wheelis employed; while, fourthly,

my present improvement consists in several details of construction, to be duly explained.

The drawings accompanying this specifica tion represent, in Figure l, a sectional elevation, and in Fig. 2 a longitudinal section, of a turbine wheel and case containing my improvements. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. 4 an under-side view, of the wheel Fig. 5 is a view of one of the pads to beexplained.

I have represented in these drawings a wheel and case containing several sets of buckets and water-,guideways and gates, by which, when one or more of such gates are closed, the water may act upon a reduced surface of wheel, and vice versa, for while myinvention is applicable alike to a wheel containing a single or plural set of buckets and approaches, it is especially valuable to thelatter.

. Reference being had to the drawings above named, it will be seen that A represents ;a wheel of two divisions or sections, B 0, each division having its own bucket a a, &c., 111), 850., with interposed annular or steadying rims d, 820., the upper seriesof buckets discharging the water centrally or inwardly downward through the interior of the Wheel and about its upright shaft E, while the lower buckets discharge outwardly and downwardly.

.I do not confine myself to this method of discharge, but prefer it for the reason that it permits of free escape of water.

The casewhich surrounds the wheel, and contains the water guideways or chutes for imparting direction to the current of water as it reaches thebuckets of the wheehis shown at F, and though the extreme diameter of this case may vary with each set of chutes and wheel-buckets, I prefer it should be of practically uniform diameter, for convenience in manufacture and operation.

The case F isdivided longitudinally into chambers G H by a series of annular plates or shelves, g, 850., which coincide with the divisions d of the wheel, andv each of such chambers contains aseries of tangentially-arranged partitions or plates, kk, &c., to provide chutes or guideways Z l, &c., to impart the necessary direction to the water as it approaches the wheel.

The ports or sluices in the circumference of the case F, for admitting water to the various chambers, are shown at m m n n, &c., while surrounding these respective ports, and encircling with a small intervening space, 10, the two divisions or sections of such case F, are two annular or register gates, M N. As each gate is of like make and operation, a description of one will suffice for all.

Said gate is composed of a flat ring or annular frame, N, having. ports or sluices q q, 860., created in itat regular intervals, and in such number and of size as to coincide with the corresponding ports in the case F.

O O, &c., in the accompanying drawings,

1 1 represent a :seriesof pads, each :pad being 1 1 1 1 practically a plate of a segment of circle 1 1 1 struckfrom the 1 center: of the wheel, and be-: 1

. 1 ing interposed between the ringd'rame N and 1111::1case Fin: the intermediate: space 9, which it 1 1 1 partly fills, each pad being 1 retained in place, 1 -and caused to move; with the register 1- gate 1 g I 1 frame N, by a stud, a", on its outer side, which 1 1 enters a corresponding; socket, s, 'inithe inner E 1 1 1 face of said frame N,1the1 size ofeach padbe 1 1 1 in g such as to slightly overlap the boundaries; 1

1 cf the adj acentwateninlet; port of the case? F1: 1

In my patented wheel before alluded to it 1 1 will 11 3c seen; that the outer face of each section 1 1 1 1 of the wheel-case 1?, between the: ports m: 1

1 1 &c., is oi less diameter than the remainder, in 1 1 1 1 1 1 order that: water mayhaveaccess the inside 1 1 1 1 of the pad as it does to the outside; as in the; 1

latter case thepadsprojectthrough the gate-i 1 frame N. 1

In my present wheel. I prevent} as he as possible, anyflow of water hetween the pad 1 i 1 1 and case,;and-l co v1er the outside of eaelr pad, 1 z 1 j as 1 will be seen in the 1 drawings, by a solid 1 1 1 substanne thatis, thebar a i nterveningbe- 1 tween each 5 port; is solid i n lieu' 0 f being open, as inmy patent, and to exclude water 1 5 from 1 between the 1 pad and-gate-frame 12L 11 1 1 employ, preferably, sheet, b1 1,: of vulcanized? 1 1r1ubber, which 1 press into place between the g twc with such a idegreeof force; that the cn-i 1 suing expansinnshall maintain a tight joint: 11hetweeu theparts.. 11

1 j 1 1 5 1 The; water is: thusexcluded, when :the 1 gate:

1 1 1 is':closed, fror n bothsides of 1 the pad; and as 1 1 the water hasaccess to all sides of the wheel:-

-casc, it is apparentthat each gate isbalanced to the pressure of water, and the only friction to be overcome in opening or closing such gate is that caused by the stress of the rubber packing N, which is comparatively slight; therefore the gates are operated easily and smoothly, a governor can act with certainty and regularity, and consumption of water is utilized to an eminent degree.

Each gate is or may be opened and closed independently of its fellow, and consequently any one section of the Wheel may be used independently of the others.

Each gate is provided with a segmental rack, 0, while a pinion, d, engages such rack, and is aflixed to an upright shaft, 6, suitably supported within the fiume 0r curb of the wheel-case, and connected at top to the governor, if one is employed, or, if not, provided with a hand wheel or crank. In this manner the gate is operated with little expenditure of power. 1

It may happen, from inopportune causes, (though under all ordinary circumstances it cannot occur,) that a slight quantity of water will at times escape through the joint between the rear side of each pad and the annular frame N, and, by standing there under pressure, force the pad against the wheel-case with undue pressure, and otherwise produce objec- :tionabfle results To avoid any possibility of i i 1this,-l:crcate in each pad and its rubber pack- 1 ing a1hole, f, which will permit of escape of this water, and allow it to pass to the wheel: i i 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 in laying out the buckets of the twosecztionsof the; wheel A, I proceedas follows:

The general curvature of: each bucketis; a; 1 1 1 1 1 1 segment of a. circle struck from thecenter of Z the wheelshaft with the circumference iinter- 1 1 sfifitingapointmidwayofthe innerand outer' rims-of thewheel, eachextremityotthe 11 bucket i of: a slightly reverse curve, as i 1 shown at g. 1 1 P 1 1 -The:generaldirections of the twosets of i1 1 buckets are at the ame tangent wi th respect 1 i 1 i i 1 i i 1 1 to: the wheel,- but the curvatures are oppo- 1 :site tliatis to say,:oneis convcxwithrcspect to incoming water, and the other con ea vegias 1 shown in Fig. 2ot' the accompanying drawingsfln whichthe npperhuckets are repre- 1 sented in full lines,and thelower in dotted lines;

i 1 The upper buckets :in elevation are straight, 1 I while the lower cues, i) h, &sc. are cnrvedg'anidz 1 advance: in thedirection of the incoming wa tenasashcwnatt 11 The openings'tor escape ofwaterfrorn the-* 1 inpperbucketsareinternal, as shown at h," while the lower ones: are at the bottom, as i 1 i i 1 shown in: Fig. 4 of the drawings; l have 5 Eton-11d this form and respective disposition of 1 1 1 the buckets to; operate to great advantage; 1 1 1 5 1 5 1 1 To enable the current of water to aid still 1 1 1 :iurther in impellingthe wheel by acting up f 1 1 on an additienal or increased: inclined? surface, i F 1 1 Icutawaythenpper'inner:side ofthe band 015 shelf 9, which divides the two sets of buckets,

as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and by this means I greatly increase the eflective capacity of my wheel.

By this cutting away of the shelf 9 the outlet of each bucket is considerably larger than its inlet, thus permitting of a free discharge of water.

I claim 1. The elastic or semi elastic packing between the pads O and ring-frame N, sub stantially as and for purposes stated.

2. The ring-frame N and pads O O, &c., in combination with the wheel-case F, substantially as described, whereby water is shut out from contact with the outer face of each pad, essentially as and for purposes stated.

3. The pad 0 and packing b, as formed with the opening f, substantially as and for purposes stated.

4. The wheel combining the buckets a a, &c., b b, &c., of the curvature and disposition as stated, and with the upper inner face of the band or shelf d cutaway as explained, the whole being and operating as hereinbefore set forth. I

' THOMAS TRIPP.

.Witnesses:

LOUIS A. OUR-ms, FRED. CURTIS. 

